Newsroom Stories

William T. Shearer, M.D., Ph.D., has been elected to the board of trustees at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Shearer is professor of pediatrics and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine, chief of the allergy and immunology service at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and a 1970 graduate of the Washington University School of Medicine.

A machine developed at Washington University to reveal the inner workings of brains and hearts is emerging as a premier tool for tracking cervical cancer. The device, called a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, is similar to MRI scanners but uses radioactivity instead of X-rays to create images of blood flowing through organs, brain activity and other processes.

Scanning electron microscopy image of a filamentous bacterium from a patient with a UTIScientists at the School of Medicine have found definitive proof that some of the bacteria that plague women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) are entrenched inside human bladder cells. The finding confirms a controversial revision of scientists’ model of how bacteria cause UTIs. Previously, most researchers assumed that the bacteria responsible for infections get into the bladder but do not invade the individual cells that line the interior of the bladder.

Photo by Mary Butkus / WUSTL PhotoStudy finds that the larger the bill, the smaller the tip percentage.With the holiday season upon us, Americans are grappling more than ever with what’s appropriate when it comes to rewarding service providers with tips, gifts and other token gratuities, suggests Leonard Green, a psychology professor in Arts & Sciences who studies tipping behavior at Washington University in St. Louis. Video available.

It’s possible to keep your diet intact during the holidays.The holiday season, with all its sweet temptations, is in full swing. However, all those holiday parties and office gatherings laden with scrumptious food and drink don’t have to mean the end of your weight loss plan. It’s still possible to enjoy the bounty and not feel deprived of your favorite holiday dishes, says Connie Diekman, director of University Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. Video available.

“Faith in Schools?” is focus of new book by WUSTL’s Ian MacMullen.Arguing that democratic principles do not support a strict separation of church and state in educational policy, a new book contends that government has both the responsibility to pay for religious schools and the right to regulate what’s taught within them.

The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University in St. Louis has announced the semi-finalists in the 2008 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition. This year’s semi-finalists represent a range of proposals including of a group of college students with a plan to provide counseling and mentoring services for low-income students, to an established nonprofit with a proposal for a mixed-use small business incubator.

NASA/JPLThick or thin ice shell on Jupiter’s moon Europa? Scientists are all but certain that Europa has an ocean underneath its surface ice, but do not know how thick this ice might be.Jupiter’s moon Europa is just as far away as ever, but new research is bringing scientists closer to being able to explore its tantalizing ice-covered ocean and determine its potential for harboring life. William B. McKinnon, professor of earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is discussing some of these recent findings and new opportunities for exploring Europa in a news briefing on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007, at the meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Twenty-eight-day-old *Physcomitrella* gametophyte showing the leafy gametophores in the center and the protonemal filaments radiating outward.The complete collection of genes — the genome — of a moss has been sequenced, providing scientists an important evolutionary link between single-celled algae and flowering plants. Just as the sequencing of animal genomes has helped scientists understand human genomic history, the sequencing of plant genomes will shed light on the evolution of the plant kingdom, according to Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and the corresponding author of the paper.

WolffSt. Louis businesswoman and philanthropist Edith L. Wolff has made a commitment of $20 million to support biomedical research at the School of Medicine. The funds will establish the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Institute, which will support biomedical research projects that lead to the prevention, treatment and cure of disease.